Who We Are

Ellen Perrin, MD

Professor, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Floating Hospital for Children, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.

Dr. Perrin’s career has blended her background and interest in developmental psychology with her passion to improve the lives of children and their parents. As President of the Society for Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, she was instrumental in gaining formal subspecialty status for Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics through the American Board of Medical Specialties and was the first Chair of the American Board of Pediatrics’ sub-board on Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. She is committed to helping primary care pediatricians to address children’s optimal development and behavior most effectively. In her clinical work and research, she has worked with pediatricians in the care of children with chronic physical health conditions and a wide range of developmental-behavioral difficulties. In addition, she has been committed to advocacy for teens and parents who are gay or lesbian, and gender nonconforming young children. Recognizing the importance of early identification and intervention in developmental-behavioral problems and a need for a different kind of screening strategy, she worked with Dr. Chris Sheldrick to develop the Survey of Well-being of Young Children (SWYC).

Chris Sheldrick, PhD

Dr. Sheldrick is a research psychologist and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine. He received his BA from Brown University and his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Temple University, and has received further training through a Career Development Award (KM1) fellowship on comparative effectiveness. Dr. Sheldrick’s research focuses on the science and practice of screening, spanning from instrument development to implementation and evaluation. Recognizing the importance of early identification and intervention for developmental-behavioral problems and a need for a different kind of screening strategy, he worked with Dr. Ellen Perrin to develop the SWYC.

Kate Mattern

Director of Operations for the SWYC, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Floating Hospital for Children, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.

Ms. Mattern has worked with the Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at the Floating Hospital for Children since 2010 and was involved with data collection for the SWYC’s initial validation studies. Before beginning full-time work with the SWYC, she served from 2013-2015 as the project coordinator for the NICHD-funded study Screen Early Screen Accurately for child Well-being (SESAW).